=March 12th.=
_Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me. Acts
i. 8._
Look at it! Think of it! A hundred and twenty men and women having no
patronage, no promise of any earthly favor, no endowment, no wealth--a
company of men and women having to get their living by common daily
toil, and busied with all the household duties of daily life--and yet
_they_ are to begin the conquests of Christianity! To them is entrusted
a work which is to turn the world upside down. None so exalted but the
influence of this lowly company shall reach to them, until the throne of
the Caesars is claimed for Christ. None so far off but the power of this
little band gathered in an upper room shall extend to them until the
whole world is knit into a brotherhood! Not a force is there on the
earth, either of men or devils, but they shall overcome it, until every
knee shall bow to their Master, and every tongue shall confess that He
is Lord.
A thing impossible, absurd, look at it as you will, until you admit
this--_they are to be filled with the Holy Ghost_. Then difficulties
melt into the empty air. Then there is no limit to their hopes, for
there is no limit to their power. Their strength is not only "as the
strength of ten," it is as the strength of the Almighty.
This is Christ's idea of Christianity; the idea not of man--it is
infinitely too sublime--the idea of God!--_Mark Guy Pearse._
=March 13th.=
_He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do
nothing. John xv. 5._
Too much taken up with our work, we may forget our Master; it is
possible to have the hand full, and the heart empty. Taken up with our
Master we cannot forget our work; if the heart is filled with His love,
how can the hands not be active in His service?--_Adolphe Monod._
=March 14th.=
_He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. John vi.
57._
To feed on Christ is to get His strength into us to be our strength. You
feed on the corn field, and the strength of the corn field comes into
you, and is your strength. You feed on Christ, and then go and live
your life; and it is Christ in you that lives your life, that helps the
poor, that tells the truth, that fights the battles, and that wins the
crown.--_Phillips Brooks._
=Match 15th.=
_I sought Him, but I found Him not. Song of Sol. iii.
1._
Tell me where you lost the company of Christ, and I will tell you the
most likely place to find Him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by
restraining prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find Him. Did you
lose Christ by sin? You will find Him in no other way than by the giving
up of the sin, and seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in
which the lust doth dwell. Did you lose Christ by neglecting the
Scriptures? You must find Him in the Scriptures. It is a true proverb,
"Look for a thing where you dropped it; it is there." So look for Christ
where you lost Him, for He has not gone away.--_Spurgeon._
=March 16th.=
_Come behind in no gift. 1 Cor. i. 7._
The Scripture gives four names to Christians, taken from the four
cardinal graces so essential to man's salvation: _Saints_ for their
holiness, _believers_ for their faith, _brethren_ for their love,
_disciples_ for their knowledge.--_Thomas Fuller._
=March 17th.=
_They rest not day and night. Rev. iv. 8._
O blessed rest! When we rest not day and night, saying, "Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty!"--when we shall rest from sin, but not from
worship; from suffering and sorrow, but not from joy! O blessed day,
when I shall rest with God; when I shall rest in knowing, loving,
rejoicing, and praising; when my perfect soul and body shall together
perfectly enjoy the most perfect God; when God, who is love itself,
shall perfectly love me, and rest in His love to me, and I shall rest
in my love to Him; when He shall rejoice over me with joy, and joy over
me with singing, and I shall rejoice in Him!--=Baxter.=
=March 18th.=
_They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk,
and not faint. Isa. xl. 31._
The eagle that soars in the upper air does not worry itself as to how it
is to cross rivers.--_Selected._
=March 19th.=
_Their eyes were holden. Luke xxiv. 16._
_Their eyes were opened. Luke xxiv. 31._
There is much precious significance in this. The Lord is often present
in our lives in things that we do not dream possess any significance. We
are asking God about something which needs His mighty working, and the
very instrument by which He is to work is by our side, perhaps for weeks
and months and years all unrecognized, until suddenly, some day it grows
luminous and glorious with the very presence of the Lord, and becomes
the mighty instrument of His victorious working. He loves to show His
hand through the unexpected. Often he keeps us from seeing His way until
just before He opens it, and then, immediately that it is unfolded, we
find that He was walking by our side in the very thing, long before we
even suspected its meaning.--_A. B. Simpson._
=March 20th.=
_All things work together for good to them that love
God. Rom. viii. 28._
If our circumstances find us in God, we shall find God in all our
circumstances.--_Selected._
=March 21st.=
_He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His
name's sake. Ps. xxiii. 3._
He always has a purpose in His leading. He knows where the bits of green
pasture are, and He would lead His flock to these. The way may be rough,
but it is the right way to the pasture. "Paths of righteousness" may not
be straight paths; but they are paths that lead somewhere--to the right
place. Many desert paths are illusive. They start out clear and plain,
but soon they are lost in the sands. They go nowhere. But the paths of
righteousness have a goal to which they unerringly lead.--_J. R.
Miller._
=March 22nd.=
_And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the
hand of him whom thou wilt send. Ex. iv. 13._
It was a very grudging assent. It was as much as to say, "Since Thou art
determined to send me and I must undertake the mission, then let it be
so; but I would that it might have been another, and I go because I am
compelled." So often do we shrink back from the sacrifice or obligation
to which God calls us, that we think we are going to our doom. We seek
every reason for evading the divine will, little realizing that He is
forcing us out from our quiet homes into a career which includes, among
other things, the song of victory on the banks of the Red Sea; the two
lonely sojourns for forty days in converse with God; the shining face;
the vision of glory; the burial by the hand of Michael; and the supreme
honor of standing beside the Lord on the Transfiguration mount.--_F. B.
Meyer._
=March 23rd.=
_See then that ye walk circumspectly. Eph. v. 15._
There is no such thing as negative influence. We are all positive in the
place we occupy, making the world better or making it worse.--_T. DeWitt
Talmage._
=March 24th.=
_She took for him an ark of bulrushes . . . and she laid
it in the flags by the river's brink. Ex. ii. 3._
The mother of Moses laid the ark in the flags by the river's brink. Ay,
but before doing so, she laid it on the heart of God! She could not have
laid it so courageously upon the Nile, if she had not first devoutly
laid it upon the care and love of God.
We are often surprised at the outward calmness of men who are called
upon to do unpleasant and most trying deeds; but could we have seen them
in secret, we should have known the moral preparation which they
underwent before coming out to be seen by men. Be right in the
sanctuary, if you would be right in the market-place. Be steadfast in
prayer, if you would be calm in affliction. Start your race from the
throne of God itself, if you would run well, and win the prize.--_Joseph
Parker._
=March 25th.=
_Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law
of Christ. Gal. vi. 2._